Hot Carrier-Based Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion

Mar 13, 2017 - Near-field thermophotovoltaics (NFTPV) is a promising approach for direct conversion of heat to electrical power. This technology relie...
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Hot Carrier-Based Near-Field Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion Raphael St-Gelais,#,†,‡ Gaurang Ravindra Bhatt,‡ Linxiao Zhu,§ Shanhui Fan,§ and Michal Lipson*,†,‡ †

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, United States § Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States ‡

ABSTRACT: Near-field thermophotovoltaics (NFTPV) is a promising approach for direct conversion of heat to electrical power. This technology relies on the drastic enhancement of radiative heat transfer (compared to conventional blackbody radiation) that occurs when objects at different temperatures are brought to deep subwavelength distances (typically